Patients could soon be treated by tiny magnets injected into the body and activated by remote control

The robotic particles will target diseased cells and destroy them using heat, leaving healthy cells unharmed

The treatment could mean an end to invasive surgery as well as powerful chemotherapy drugs

Scientists told the told Evening Standard on Saturday that trials of the technique will begin within two years

Several teams of scientists around the world are racing to be the first to perfect the technique. But the London researchers are the only ones to have built the crucial “light box” that activates the magnetic particles and are expected to be first to bring the technique to trials